Contents

Physical Appearance

Bipedal humanoids with firey red fur that fades to dark brown on their hands, feet and ears. Their faces are primarily white with red markings around the eyes and dark brown tear lines. Their hair is always white while their eyes are dark grey with black pupils. Their bushy tails have light tan rings around the base that become dark brown rings around the tip.

Their faces have a distinctive look with sloping muzzle and a low forehead. It resembles the cross between a human face and animal muzzle. Their long, pointed ears are set about where a human's ears should be.

They have slender bodies with long legs. Obese or overmuscled Zhaos are rare.

Their feet have three toes, the innermost toe being an opposable digit for grapsing.

Both their tails and opposable toes are left over from their tree-dwelling ancestors and become smaller with each passing generation.

Intelligence and Mental Health

Zhaos are a very old and wise race, though many consider their culture to be very 'dry'. They are gentle creatures that tend to get along very will with the other races, particularly the other Elder Races. This makes them well suited to be traders, merchants, scholars, and diplomats.

They are among the best melee fighters in the galaxy. Most Zhaos don't like firearms, which leads the other races to believe that they are 'impractical' for ground combat. They make lousy soldiers, but are good at combat professions that require stealth such as assassin, scout, and spy.

Sex and Reproduction

Zhaocian courtship is a lot like human courtship. When they become of age, they start dating. Marriage isn't required for reproduction, but traditionally mated pairs are the ones to reproduce.

Males become sexually mature around age 17 while females become sexually mature around 19.

The mating process is highly ritualized. When trying to conceive, fertility symbols and aphrodesiacs are used. The gestation period for femals is around 7 months. Zhaocian newborns are very small and require a lot of attention from the parents.

Children are taught not to act up (There is an old Zhaocian saying - "The nail that sticks up gets hammered back down) and intelligence is encouraged through play.

Diet

Zhaos are omnivorous. They can eat plants and meat, but seem to prefer plant matter. Especially fruits. They are also the only sentient race to regularly feed on bamboo.

They seem to be very fond of eggs, insects and small rodents as well.

Zhaocian and the Lifestream

Though not necessarily religious like the Ibirians, Zhaocians are highlyspiritual beings that almost exclusively walk the path of spiritualityrather then science. While Zhaocian scientists do exist, they are rare.Most of the technology they have has been 'borrowed' and adapted fromthe technologies of more science-savvy races.

Zhaocians with connections to the lifestream are somewhat common.While most Zhaos seem to have a natural empathy towards life,many of them carry similar abilities to the Reth'kaaof Ultimare.

They do have organized religion. The largest of Zhao religions isknown as "Kawazhien" and is best described as being a cross betweenBuddhism and Daoism.

Names

The Zhaocian language has a sound that combinesChinese and Japanese syllables. Most Zhaos can alsospeak Galactic Common, but prefer their ownlanguage whenever possible.Zhaocian names are usually words in their nativelanguage that translate to certain emotions,physical qualities, plants, or traits.